Upping The Craft: Susan O'Connor On Games Writing

Veteran video game writer Susan O'Connor believes that there's a lot
of room to improve the writing in games -- and she would know; she's been
involved in many of the top projects in the industry, from both commercial
success and narrative quality standpoints.

Epic's Gears
of War takes (some perhaps deserved) dings for its storytelling, but Ubisoft Montreal's Far Cry 2, on the other hand, was
experimental and deeply considered from a narrative standpoint -- and O'Connor
worked on both games, as well as titles like 2K Boston/Australia's BioShock, which she won a Game Developers Choice Awards for co-writing in 2008.

In this interview with O'Connor , Gamasutra had a chance
to discuss not just the intricacies of what game narrative is capable of, but
exactly how development studios should handle working with a writer. What is the
best possible process for delivering story that enhances the gameplay
experience rather than simply interrupting it?

The following in-depth discussion considers
both narrative "tricks" to engage the player, alongside the philosophy
and craft of storytelling. It's intended to help spark some discussion of
precisely what games and developers can, should, and will be doing in the
future with regard to game narrative.

How
did you get into games writing originally?

Susan O'Connor: Well, it was really through
the back door. When I started I knew that I wanted to be -- the goal was -- to
get a job being paid to be a writer. I knew from the age of four that I wanted
to be a writer. Then I was like, "I don't understand how writers get paid.
I can't connect the dots here." It was really confusing to me.

So, I started talking to people in all
different areas and tried to decide if should relocate to Los
Angeles or New
York. What kind of writing? Playwriting?
Do I want to do screenwriting? Television? Do I want to write haiku? Do I want
to write crap like on the back of cereal boxes? It was like everything was on
the table.

Then, I met somebody who worked at a studio
here in [Austin] who made kids' games. At the time, just coincidentally, they
were making a slumber party game for girls. There are these four little girl
avatars that were on screen jibber-jabbering the whole time. So, they had this
immense need for writing, which they never did for kids' games.

I was qualified because, A, I'm a girl, B,
I'd been to slumber parties. I was an expert in this area. So, that's how I got
started. There was so much work that needed to be done that they hired me on. I
was like a writer/producer.

I did that for a few years. We're talking
six to eight month production cycles, really for kiddos, really simple stuff.
But it was great because it was a chance to make a lot of mistakes without a
lot of people noticing. Kids are a very forgiving audience. You can screw up,
and they don't get on the internet and go berserk [laughs], not when they're
five.

It was really good. None of us had any
experience making games. All the designers had architecture degrees. I had an
art history and English degree. Nobody knew anything. We were all just a bunch
of doofuses. There were experienced people at the time who worked in games, but
we certainly weren't any of them. So, it was really fun.

It felt like college again, just sort of
banging around and making a mess and learning some things and kind of getting
some things done. [laughs] They're not award winning stuff, but in a way it was
some of the best times I've had in games because it was really fun. I liked
that. Anyway, that is how I got started.

Gears of War

Obviously
all games have text in them, but there is still a sort of lag on the importance
of having a dedicated writer in games, as a role. How do you get studios to take
it seriously?

SO: Well, I think that it's tricky. In a
way the pressure is on the writer to articulate what it is that they do. In a
way one, of the problems can be that you treat it like a black art. I'm just
going to go into a room and shut the door. Six months later I'm going to open
the door and, "Wham! Check it out! Here is a story."

I think that it really helps if you can
talk to people who aren't writers about the writing process in a way that not
only do they understand, but it interests them. That is, I think, a huge
barrier to appreciating it.

It's really analogous to design. It also
sort of gets pulled out of the ether, but there are enough designers in this
industry that there is an acknowledgement that that is a craft worth
practicing. There are not many writers in the industry, so we don't get that
sense of legitimacy.

You can look around and say, "Well,
there are 47 million designers. There must be something to this design stuff."
It's not just that you are making up stuff. There is actually a methodology.

There is one for writing, as well. It's a
bit softer than design. You're trying to work more on the right side of the
brain than the left, but I think it really helps if you can work with teams and
help every step of the way articulating what it is that you do and how it can
help them. How you can take what they're doing and run it through this writing
prism.

Usually, what tends to happen is that at
the end of games, they say, "Gosh, we wish we'd hired writers
sooner." Yes! That is correct! But that is starting to get better. The
game I just finished, I came on at the last minute, which is rough. But the
game I am about to start, I am coming on at the very beginning. So, that is
really starting to change.

I guess your question was, "How do you
make that transition?" I think that anyone who writes anything good helps
other people. It just helps me as a writer if someone else writes a great game.
Look, they did it. How did they do it? Well, they spent a long time on that
project.

Valve's got a great process. They run
through it. They iterate like crazy on stuff. They throw stuff away when it
doesn't work. They find ways to rapidly prototype. I think everything else in games gets
iterated a gazillion bazillion times. When I look at these poor level designers
and how much of their work gets thrown away, it's heartbreaking. But, it's what
you have to do to get a piece of art finished.

It's the same with writing. Once people
make that connection, "Oh, good stuff takes time. If I want the writing to
be good, I'll have to invest some time in it."

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